Construction and Commissioning
The second ship of the fleet to bear the name of fish of the family Wrasse. SSN-639 is named in commemoration of the fleet submarine Tautog (SS 199).
The contract to build Tautog was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 30 November 1961 and her keel was laid down there on 27 January 1964. She was commissioned on 15 March 1967, sponsored by Pauline Lafon Gore, wife of United States Senator Albert Gore, Sr. (1907–1998) of Tennessee. Under sunny skies, a crowd of thousands watched as Mrs. Gore took a hearty swing with a bottle of champagne and intoned the memorial words, "In the name of the United States of America, I christen thee TAUTOG." Tautog was thereby commissioned with Commander Buele G. Balderston in command.
Read more about this topic: USS Tautog (SSN-639)
Famous quotes containing the word construction:
“When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)